Du Gangjian was born in Hefei, Anhui in 1956. He received his B.A degree from Anhui Normal University in 1979^[8] and Master of Law degree from Renmin University of China Department of Law in 1982.^[8]

After graduation, Du joined the faculty of Renmin University of China Department of Law.^[8] He was a professor at National School of Administration from 1997 to 2004.^[8] He became the Chief Professor (首席教授) of Shantou University Law School in 2004 and was appointed the Dean of Shantou University Law School in March 2007.^[9] He left Shantou University and joined the faculty of Hunan University Law School in 2009, and was the dean of the school from 2010 to 2015.^[8]

Du was selected as one of 2003 Top Ten Opinion Leaders by Caijing Shibao (财经时报), a Chinese newspaper,^[10] and one of 100 jurists who influenced the process of promoting rule of law in China by China Today in 2017.^[11]

Du is the founder of World Civilization Research Association.^[12]

As an advocate of New Confucianism and Confucian constitutionalism, Du is known for his idea that Confucianism can be used as the ideological basis for constitutionalism^[13][14][15] and human rights.^[2][16][17]

Some of his research, e.g., claiming that American Indians may descend from Hunan,^[18][19][20] that some ancestors of Korean and Japanese people came from Hunan,^[21] and that Western civilization originated in China,^{[15][19][20][22]} have attracted public attention.

• Thoughts on Human Rights in Twentieth-century China (中國近百年人權思想), The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2004, ISBN 9789622019164
• The Origin of Civilizations and the World of Great Unity (文明源头与大同世界), Guangming Press, 2017, ISBN 9789887705291^[23]

• Introduction to Du Gangjian 21cn.com